ML18030A114

Responds to NRC Requests for Comments Re Draft Suppl to Draft Eis.Review Indicates Use of Cowanesque Project Currently Under Const Would Provide Better Water Storage than Building New Reservoir

ML18030A114
Person / Time
Site:	Susquehanna
Issue date:	06/10/1980
From:	LINDSAY W W FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
To:	EISENHUT D G Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
OEPR-DRB, NUDOCS 8006130308
Download: ML18030A114 (3)

Text

REGULATORINFORMATION DISTRIBUTION TEH(RIBS)EgU//ACCESSION NOR:8006130308 OOC~DATE:80/06/10NOTARIFACIL;50~87.-Susquehanna SteamElectricStation<UnitSOM88Susquehanna SteamElectricStationiUnitAI,AFAR~AUTHORAFFILIATION LINDSAYFlAr

~*~FederalEnergyRegulatoryCommissionRECIP~NAMERECIPIENT AFFILIATION EISEI<HUTFD.G DivisionofIicensing

SUBJECT:

RespondstoNRCrequestsforcommentsredradraftEISAReviewindicates useofCowanesque currently underconstwouldprovidebetterwthanbuildingnewreservoir, DISTRIBUTION CODE:C002SCOPIESRECEIVED:LTR ENCLTITLE:Environ~Comments, NOTES.K'&MlOX,g~WC'fN~+RZEO;NODOCKETiFPennsylva 050003872FPennsylva 05000388ftsuppltoprojectaterstorageSIZE:RECIPIENTCOPIESIDCODE/NAME LTTRENCLACTION:05PH~~~~118IA~~~~~1INTERNAL:

01M.~ISLE07IIIE10CSTBNFTANL13HYDROMETEOR15EFLTTRTSYS19DIRDSEADSITEANALYEXTERNAL:

03LPOR20NATLLABPh~i5RECIPIENT IOCODE/NAME 17BCL.~n-NAD~ha)~v~02NRCPDR09ENVNSPECBR12GEOSCIENBR14ACDENTANALY16RAOASMTBRAOENVIRONTECHOEI004NSICACRSCOPIESLTTRENCL111.111'~'6~SeOdTOTALNURSEROFCOPIESREQUIRED:

LTTR~ENCL FEDERALENERGYREGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C.20426InReplyReferTo:OEPR-DRBCooperative StudiesDraftSupplement toDEISSusquehanna Steam-Electric StationUnits1and2DarrelG.Eisenhut, DirectorDivisionofLicensing NuclearRegulatory Commission Washington, D.C.Z0555

DearMr.Eisenhut:

Thisisinresponsetoyourrecentrequestforcomments'on thedraftsupplement tothedraftenvironmental impactstatement fortheSusquehanna Steam-Electric Station(SSES)Units1and2,Pennsylvania.

Thedraftsupplement addresses thesubjectoflowflowaugmentation requiredtosupplywatertotheSusquehanna Rivertoreplacewaterconsumptively usedbytheSSESduringperiodsofverylowstreamflow.

Theaverageconsumptive useattheSSESwouldbeabout1.4cubicmeterspersecondorapproximately 6percentofthesevenconsecutive day,10-yearfrequency lowflowof2Z.7cubicmeterspersecondattheWilkes-Barre gage.Whenthedischarge atthegageisbelowthis'evel,Pennsylvania lawprohibits waterwithdrawals fromtheriver.ThiswouldresultinSSESbeingshutdownforthedurationofthestreamflow deficiency.

Theapplicants, Pennsylvania PowerandLightCompanyandtheAllegheny ElectricCooperative, Inc.,havestudiedtwoalternatives forproviding lowflowaugmentation

-one,anewsingle-purpose reservoir andanother,whichwouldutilizestoragefromanexistingreservoir.

Anotheropt'ionwouldbeto"riverfollow"oracceptandaccommodate theoccasional shutdowns necessary duringlowstreamflow.

Theapplicants haverecommended construction ofthePondHilllowflowaugmentation reservoir.

Theproposedsingle-purpose reservoir w'ouldbelocatedonaheadwater tributary totheSusquehanna River,withinsufficient naturalstreamflow foritsintendedpurpose.Consequently, pumpingenergyamounting toabout2,417megawatt-hours peryearwouldberequiredtomaintainitsrequiredinflow.Thisisequivalent totheamountofelectricity thatcouldbegenerated fromusingabout4,000barrelsofoil.Thereportrecognizes thatthemosteconomicalternative toaugmentlowflowswouldbethemodifiedoperation ofanexistingupstreamreservoir.

However,webelievethatthedraftsupplement didnotadequately explorethatopportunity, whichappearstoustobethemostpractical alternative.

Theprimaryprojectcob>5 DarrelG.Eisenhut, Director~2wconsidered istheU.S.ArmyCorpsofEngineers'owanesque project,presently underconstruction andscheduled forcompletion inJune1981.ThereportstatesthattheCorpsofEngineers pointedoutuncertainties regarding theavailability ofstorageduetotheneedforCongressional approvalforreallo-cationofstoragecapacity, andaccording totheSusquehanna RiverBasinCom-mission,theCowanesque projectcannotbeconsidered asatimelyalternative.

ThereportimpliesthatthePondHillprojectcouldbedesigned, constructed, andplacedinoperation inlesstimethantheCongresscouldeffectchangesintheCowanesque projectoperations.

Wequestionthisimplication.

According totheCorpsofEngineers, thepre-construction planningoftheCowanesque projectincludedapproximately 31,000acre-feet ofstorageforwatersupplybutitwasnotincludedasaprojectpurposeduetolackoflocalsupportatthetime.However,wehavebeeninformedbytheCorpsthatadetailed$600,000plusstudyiscurrently underwaytodetermine theavailability ofstorageintheCowanesque projectforsupplymake-upwaterfortheSusquehanna Steam-Electric Station.Thisextensive study,initiated inMarch1979,isscheduled forcompletion inearly1982.Basedonourreviewofthedraftsupplement reportandconsultation withtheCorpsofEngineers, itappearsthattheuseoftheCowanesque project,nowunderconstruction, insteadoftheproposedPondHillprojectwould:saveanequivalent of4,000barrelsofoilannually, avoidtheenvironmental effectsnormallyassociated withdamconstruction, eliminate possibleobjections fromlocalresidents orpropertyowners,increasebenefitstorecreation andfishandwildliferesources duringlowflowconditions, andperhapsprovidethelowflowregulation soonerthanPondHill.Therefore, itappearstobeinboththeratepayers'nd taxpayers'nterests toincludestorageintheCorpsofEngineers'roject (underconstruction) ratherthanbuildanewreservoir.

Sincerely,

+MLCaWilliamW.Lindsay,DirecrOfficeofElectricPoweregulation